Firefighters Honored for Saving Man's Life

Several Tallahassee Firefighters are being called heroes after being credited with saving a man's life.

Back in May, firefighters say they battled through intense heat and heavy smoke inside of a home on Cloudland Drive where a man was trapped inside.

"We crawled into him and we found him there barely trying to breath," says Tallahassee Firefighter, Nick Peppard.

The man firefighters are credited with saving is FAMU Professor Charles Smith.

Peppard says he and Captain Buddy Harvey brought the unconscious Smith outside to safety. Now the men and three other Tallahassee firefighters who were on scene that day are being honored for their heroics.

"And say to not only these gentlemen and the other ones who came in, and the future firefighters how blessed and fortunate that I feel and my father feel for being in a town that we have not only such trained professionals but compassionate professionals," says Shauna Smith, professor Smith's daughter.

Peppard and Harvey were both given the medal of bravery. It's the department's second highest honor. It's an honor that's been bestowed on just two others besides them.

"We're just doing that job that we signed up to do. It's a calling it's a profession, but this is what we train for," says Peppard.

The other firefighters honored at the ceremony were Mike Hadden, Lt. Blake Register and Brenden Rudy. They were honored with the Tallahassee Fire Department's Life Saving Award.

Smith suffered smoke damage to his lungs from the fire. But firefighters say they expect him to make a full recovery.

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